Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture – Make Good the Promises

The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture’s newest exhibit, “Make Good the Promises: Reconstruction and Its Legacies,” examines the era of Reconstruction as newly freed African Americans entered society after the end of the Civil War and invites visitors to think about an often-overlooked part of American history. Cortina Productions designed and produced two interactives and twelve films for the exhibition. Project highlights include the “Freedmen’s Bureau Records” interactive, which allows visitors to step into the role of a historian and discover the real stories of newly freed people through a digital interactive experience, and the installation “Myth and Memory” that uses a holographic technique to create a 3D environment. As visitors approach a pedestal with a holographic image of a confederate monument, the juxtaposition of the solid statue as a transparent image alludes to the endurance and fluidity of historical myth and memory.